As Jennifer Wagley continues to mature as a person and as a swimmer, her goals have also changed along the way.

The recently-crowned state butterfly champion in Division 3 still is proud of her accomplishments, but even more so of those of her teammates.

"When I get older, I won't remember my times or what meets I did well in, but I'll always remember the great friendships I've made and the great memories I've had in the sport of swimming," said the Adrian High School junior. "It's been amazing to be part of such a close team. I'm so proud of everything they've accomplished."

And it hasn't all focused on her Maple teammates, who collectively turned in the best finish in Adrian history — seventh — at the state meet this fall. The team members from both Adrian and Tecumseh have become friends, friendly rivals and even training partners.

"I have trained with Rachel (Waite) for several years now, and she is an amazing swimmer and a great person," praised Wagley of the Oakland University-bound Tecumseh senior who was crowned the state champion in the 100 yard breaststroke. "It has been a lot of fun being around her. ...We push each other hard, and we've both improved because of that."

Wagley has been pushed by numerous people in her rise to the top of the podium. It all began when she was six years old and a first-year member of the YMCA of Lenawee County Alligators with older sister Jessica under the tutelage of coach Shirley Morley.

"Oh, I was terrible when I first started, but I loved being in the pool and I loved being with those other swimmers. I knew right away this was going to be something special," she recalled. "I just kept working hard and dedicating myself to becoming better and wanted to do everything I could to help the Alligators win meets."

She has done that and more.

"I think from last year to this year I have worked harder than ever to get ready for the season," she said. "Last year's state meet was a little upsetting, and I wanted to do what I could to become a better swimmer and do more to help the team. I set some high goals, and I didn't come close to reaching them."

She is arguably the most decorated female swimmer in Adrian history, etching her name into the record books as a member of the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, the 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle and 200 individual medley. She and three teammates almost broke the 200 free relay record and she was less than two seconds off the school 500 freestyle record.

She has one more season to accomplish those, even though her priorities have changed slightly.

"We finished seventh this year at states and that was a great accomplishment, and with what we have coming back next year, we expect to do even better," she said. "It's great to see everyone working so hard working toward a single goal like that, and then being rewarded by swimming well at the biggest meet of the year."

Page 2 of 2 - Wagley has also been concentrating on the mental approach to her sport, trying to stay relaxed despite admitting getting nervous before events. So far that part of her swimming is a work in progress, but getting better all the time. She certainly has had opportunities to be nervous, like swimming at the YMCA National Championships last year in Greensboro, North Carolina. She swam the 100 fly, 200 fly and 200 IM against what she called "unbelievable competition."

Wagley's lineage has also helped her a bit in her achievements. Her father, Joe, once was the Adrian school record holder in the 100 yard breaststroke — ironically Jennifer's weakest event — and she is cousins of the Baily brothers from the 1980s Maple boys teams.

Despite having one year of high school swimming left, Wagley is making an unofficial visit to the Northwestern campus outside Chicago and has dropped hints that she wouldn't mind swimming in Ann Arbor, but knows "that's an awfully good program; I'd have to check my times to see if I could compete."

But first things first. She will again join the Alligators this winter and probably train with Sarah Eubanks at Tecumseh High School with her Tecumseh friends.

"I've been so lucky to have such great coaches along the way, and swimming for coach (Bill) Esterline has been such fun," Wagley said.

Between the Alligators season and summer swimming is a break for Wagley, and over the last three years, she has occupied her time with the Adrian softball and track teams, but that will probably come to an end this spring.

"It's about two months that I wasn't doing anything and I wanted something to do in that time," she said, "but I found that it wasn't helping my swimming, so I probably won't do any other sports this year."

That doesn't mean she's going to be a fish out of water. She will find a pool somewhere to stay in form and be ready for what she hopes will be an even better year as a Maple next fall.